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MONTREAL, Oct. 9, 2018 /CNW/ - Canadians are now more engaged than ever when it comes to their personal health and wellness, except when it's time to take care of their most used and abused feature—their eyes. With World Sight Day This week, Essilor Canada is launching a nationwide public awareness campaign designed to promote the vital role of an eyecare professional and encourage the 1.8 million of Canadians living with uncorrected vision 11 to visit their eye doctor over the next year.

Eyecare can have an impact on your quality of life.

To better understand Canadian consumers' current eye health behaviours, Essilor recently conductedmarket research including focus groups and an online survey focusing on eyeexams, eyecare practitioners, eyeglass purchases, wellness, as well as lifestyle.Research showed that 72% of Canadian adults spend seven or more hours in frontof three different electronic devices per day, and 90% of them reported atleast one eye-related problem linked to digital devices last year2. While they recognize there are negative consequences for excessive screen time, 42% of them also admit that even significant vision issues, such as: double vision, regular eye pain, blurred vision, watery, dry eyes or headaches when looking at a screen, are not motivated enough to take action .They state their vision is "not that bad."

"Our Eyes are being used, and strained, now more than ever. Proper eye health and vision correction have a major impact on quality of life, but neither can be achieved without an annual routine visit to assess your eye health. This Campaign aims to remind the estimated 1.8 million Canadians who are living with uncorrected vision that healthy eyes start with in-person eye examination.We also aim to re-engage the millions more who have gone longer than two years without a visit and encourage them to take their eye health seriously,"explains Barbara Heffez-Piper, President of Essilor Canada.

Eye exams are not just about seeing clearly.

Your eyes are a window to your health and taking care of them could be life-saving. Regular comprehensive eye exams can lead to early detection of a number of conditions, health issues and illnesses, including diabetes, cancer, thyroid disease and even high blood pressure. An Eye Care professional isan important member of your healthcare team. They are one of the onlydoctors who can properly examine your eyes and help you identify these diseasesbefore they become problematic. Eyecare professionals can monitor for changesin partnership with other members of your healthcare team.

Given our aging population, Canada is facing a potential crisis in age-related eye disease and it is expected to costus more than $30 billion annually by 2032. Six in 10 Canadians reported having had a vision problem and still their high tolerance for poor vision will make them put off getting an exam until it significantly impacts their ability to perform day-to-day activities.

On the other end of the spectrum,current research shows that it is also impacting our children. Myopia, also known as nearsightedness, has been on the rise globally over the past several decades. A 2016 study by the University of Waterloo Found that while the rate of myopia was 6% in children aged 6–8, it increases to 28.9% in children aged 11–137.

The good news is that 75% of vision loss can be treated or prevented through proper Eye Care, such as routine examinations 88.